Wounded officers sue Mutrie's mother

Saturday

Aug 4, 2012 at 2:00 AM

GREENLAND — Four police officers who were shot April 12 while serving a warrant at the home of Cullen Mutrie are suing Mutrie's mother for "wantonly and recklessly" allowing criminal activity to occur at the residence, which is owned by a trust in her name.

Elizabeth Dinan

GREENLAND — Four police officers who were shot April 12 while serving a warrant at the home of Cullen Mutrie are suing Mutrie's mother for "wantonly and recklessly" allowing criminal activity to occur at the residence, which is owned by a trust in her name.

Filed in Rockingham County Superior Court, the civil suit identifies the four officers as John Doe 1 through 4 and names Beverly Mutrie, individually and as trustee of the real estate trust, as defendant. The officers tell the court they were lawfully present on the Mutrie property due to illegal activity when they were injured by gunshots fired by Cullen Mutrie.

Mutrie's mother, the lawsuit alleges, "indirectly supported and facilitated" the criminal activity as trustee of the property. As a result, the officers claim, they suffered "severe bodily injuries and damages," lost wages now and in the future, and experienced "loss of enjoyment of life."

The officers are being represented by Portsmouth attorney Christopher Grant, who doesn't name the injured officers in the suit. However, they have previously been identified as detective Scott Kukesh of the Newmarket Police Department, detective Jeremiah Murphy of the Rochester Police Department, Dover detective Gregory Turner and University of New Hampshire detective Eric Kulberg.

According to the state Attorney General's Office, the four were shot and wounded by Mutrie.

Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney was killed during the same shooting, also by Mutrie, who killed himself and his co-suspect in drug investigations active at the time of the shooting, Brittany Tibbetts, the AG's office said.

Representing Beverly Mutrie and her family trust is Portsmouth attorney Brad Lown. Also a Portsmouth city councilor, Lown filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming Beverly Mutrie "had no knowledge of any criminal activity" or charges against her late son, "other than those that have been a matter of public record, fully recounted in the newspapers."

"The defendant played no role in the injuries that occurred on April 12, 2012 — she simply owned the property where the tragedy occurred," Lown wrote to the court.

In his motion to dismiss, Lown said there are no facts to support claims that Beverly Mutrie's actions or inactions were willful, wanton or reckless, and that she's not responsible for the actions of her "now deceased adult son."

Further, Lown tells the court, the officers' injuries did not originate from Beverly Mutrie's "mere ownership of the property."

"The mere fact that a tragically violent act occurred upon a piece of property owned by" Beverly Mutrie does not make her responsible for the shooting, Lown wrote.

In his motion to dismiss, Lown tells the court that Beverly Mutrie was subject to interrogatory interviews by the officers' lawyer a month before she was required by law to respond to the lawsuit. He said the line of questioning reveals that the officers have no information upon which to base their lawsuit and that they were fishing for information about his client's insurance coverage.

Lown tells the court the officers' suit "is motivated only by a desire to profit off the tragedy that resulted in the death of Mrs. Mutrie's only child."

He also cites the Fireman's Rule, which states public safety officers can't sue for injuries due to negligent conduct that occurs during their "official engagement." Grant, the officers' attorney, won a recent N.H. Supreme Court case that specifically addressed the Fireman's Rule.

Lown is asking a Superior Court judge to dismiss the lawsuit, to grant Beverly Mutrie costs and attorneys fees, and to protect her from answering interrogatory interviews until his motion to dismiss has been decided by the court.

No hearing date has been scheduled.

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